2008 Fantasy Review
The 2007/2008 fantasy season is coming to a close. I hope everyone had a good year. I am about to win the championship in my Yahoo Keeper league and I am also in the championship in my Islandermania Yahoo League. I am also in a 30 team Keeper League but I have been at the bottom of the league every year since I took over the team a few years ago. Although, I do enjoy building a team through youth and the draft.
The best player this season was Alexander Ovechkin, who has already scored 65 goals and he still has a couple of games remaining. Sidney Crosby likely would have outscored Ovechkin but he battled injuries throughout the season. The biggest surprise forward of the year was Alexei Kovalev. Kovalev seemed to be losing steam as he got older but this season he managed to carry the Canadiens into the playoffs and to the top of the Eastern Conference. Besides the injury ridden Crosby, the most disappointing forward was Marian Hossa. Hossa ended the year stronger than he started but also battled injuries after he was traded to the Penguins and never really helped fantasy owners for the majority of the season.
The best fantasy defensemen this season were Dion Phaneuf and the ageless wonder Nicklas Lidstrom. They both brought top notch offense but Lidstrom had the unbelievable 40 plus/minus rating and Phaneuf had the monster 175 penalty minutes. The biggest surprise was Mike Green. Green came out of nowhere and stole the number one defense role from Tom Poti and helped the Capitals finally challenge for the playoffs. Although it certainly helps playing with the potential league MVP, Ovechkin, as well as the potential rookie of the year, Nicklas Backstrom. The biggest disappointment was Lubomir Visnovsky. I might have given it to Dan Boyle but he gets excused for injuries. Visnovsky was expected to have a bigger offensive year than last behind a highly talented young cast in Los Angeles. Instead, he produced worse than last year and had a horrible plus/minus rating. Although, did anyone really think LA would be this bad once again? I will cry if they get Steven Stamkos to go along with the rest of the amazing young talent they already have.
The best goalie this season was Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov didn't have the best individual stats but he ended up with the most wins and with respectable numbers in every other category. The biggest surprise was, without a doubt, Pascal Leclaire. This was Leclaire's first year as a starter and he played extremely well for long stretches of the season and had 9 shutouts as well. Carey Price almost had a shot at this title but he didn't take over the Canadiens long enough to trump what Leclaire accomplished, although I wouldn't be suprised if Price won rookie of the year. The biggest disappointment was Ray Emery. Rick DiPietro was a close second but he gets partially excused for injuries and lack of goal scoring support. Emery on the other hand had a complete melt down this year. How does a goalie bring a team to the Stanley Cup finals one year and then completely suck the next year? I am sure...